I did TERRIBLY on the physics stuff I hit today. Like little stupid flaws in theory here and there that led to me getting 7's and 8's on the EK section. Why did this happen? Because I didn't do the questions as I was reading and didn't consult other sources because I thought I understood.

Changing it up now. I'm not learning any new material till I catch up with the EK questions and then review the stuff I have trouble with in the Kaplan course books. This goes for chem and physics. Hopefully that will help. Dedicating next week to doing that. Still planning on AAMC 5 for next weekend and shooting for 30+ so lets see how it comes together!

Oy vey. What a downer...

Edit: In the EK stuff for 'forces' of which most are dealing with centripetal etc, I misread half the questions and got like 5 things wrong because of that. That was the most frustrating part. After reading the answers, I was like "oh, that's what they were asking? Wtf?"
ARGHHHH!!!

Blah. Here's an idea: Ignore the whole EK Physics chapter on Energy / Work. That chapter seriously contradicted other prep books and severely hindered my understanding of the topic. Knew it decently well before hand - they confused me. Made a quick recovery as soon as I blocked out everything they said and instead focused on what TPR said.

Blah. Here's an idea: Ignore the whole EK Physics chapter on Energy / Work. That chapter seriously contradicted other prep books and severely hindered my understanding of the topic. Knew it decently well before hand - they confused me. Made a quick recovery as soon as I blocked out everything they said and instead focused on what TPR said.

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I just ordered the NOVA book for physucks.

If what people here are saying, then it's worth the cost of admission.

Bio I have a firm grasp of and EK is good.
Chem, I'm a hair shaky, but I'm not really having trouble following EK.
Orgo, I haven't started reviewing yet, but will do later this month. I used to know it well, so I'm not all that worried.
Physics, I'm going to start using NOVA when I don't understand EK. I've actually been scratching my head on a few of the EK physics things.

I have a few of the 1001 books from ek (and 101 verbal), the 1001 books are old and some have writing in them so they won't help for practice, but I can read the passages/questions and look at the answers to learn stuff. That should be like 'reviewing' exams. I might pick up the ones I'm missing if need be.

I'm not worried about this, yet anyway. I have till may 20/21 to figure it all out. I'm still going to try to finish my review by the end of the month. That way I can hit the weak points for 1-1.5 months before my exam, i.e. do practice passages, GS tests, etc. That should be the most helpful part of the entire process, I think.

In any event, tomorrow I'll do problems from the 3rd chapter of EK physucks, and then do some passages from EK chemistry and/or bio. Hopefully I can read a chapter or two after doing all that. Hoping to have a productive morning, so I guess that means I should go to bed now!

Blah. Here's an idea: Ignore the whole EK Physics chapter on Energy / Work. That chapter seriously contradicted other prep books and severely hindered my understanding of the topic. Knew it decently well before hand - they confused me. Made a quick recovery as soon as I blocked out everything they said and instead focused on what TPR said.

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3/4-3/5

I'm Lecture 3 right now, the conservative forces [3.7] stuff is beyond me in terms of their explanation. I did the in chapter review questions, there's like nothing on that reading material. BUTTTT conservative forces is on the physical sciences topic list:

Just finished a passage in verbal about prostitution. I feel that verbal gives me a nice break from the constant bombardment of scientific concepts and theories from dead old guys. Anyone share this opinion?

Just finished a passage in verbal about prostitution. I feel that verbal gives me a nice break from the constant bombardment of scientific concepts and theories from dead old guys. Anyone share this opinion?

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Yeah it does. I just wish there were more than 101 good passages+aamc's for it.

Just finished a passage in verbal about prostitution. I feel that verbal gives me a nice break from the constant bombardment of scientific concepts and theories from dead old guys. Anyone share this opinion?

hey! I see mostly everyone here is taking the exam in May I'm taking it may 21st. Been going through ek bio book - i totally underestimated it. it takes a while to get all that in your head! Today's joy - Cardiovascular system, respiratory system, lymphatic system, immune system, muscle & bone. good news is EK somehow squeezes all that into 2 chapters

Chem was 8 and 10. In the 8, about half the mistakes I made were just stupid errors or not reading something correctly. I'll call it an anomaly because I beasted the in section EK questions and I took the test at 1AM and was exhausted.

It's crazy how being tired can be so freaking deleterious to your performance! I mean, I was sitting there thinking "I don't really care about writing out this calculation", "I'm just going to guess on this one". Not ideal at all!!!
Yeah, not taking a test after drinking a few beers over the night haha.

That said...
Need. To. Work. On. Physucks.

I ordered ALL the EK 1001 questions books today. Still planning on finishing review by the late march/early april so I can use the books to hammer down through april and may.

Taking a bus back to boston tomorrow and I think I'm going to reread the 5 chapters of bio that I've already read on my way home just to refresh those. I'm going to make sure to review a little bit of everything now and then lest I forget it!

Glad to see everyone working things out!

Side note:
I'm getting money back from my taxesss!!!
Anddd I'm getting a new desktop this week after my laptop has recently decided to try to crap itself and die every so often. EEP! Poor thing is 6 years old.

About a week ago, I was in front of my city library waiting for it to open when a man came up to me and started talking to me about my undergrad (I was wearing the sweatshirt). He looked unkempt, somewhere between a homeless person and a free-spirited philosophy professor. I told him I was taking the mcat in less than a month and he started telling me how if I fail at it, I'm never going to be able to support a family and that I'm going to end up having a miserable life so I have to do whatever it takes to get in to med school. I know the man is questionable, but for the next two days I was flipping out so bad that I made every simple mistake imaginable on practice passages. Then, I ran into the guy again the other day and he looked at me and said something nonsensical with the inflection of a question. I said "huh?". Then he proceeded to stare at me for 2 minutes straight as I awkwardly stared back, puzzled. After the two minutes, he just nodded and said "Pretty cool..." and walked away.

Moral of the story #1: Don't talk to unkempt people at the city library about your personal life.

About a week ago, I was in front of my city library waiting for it to open when a man came up to me and started talking to me about my undergrad (I was wearing the sweatshirt). He looked unkempt, somewhere between a homeless person and a free-spirited philosophy professor. I told him I was taking the mcat in less than a month and he started telling me how if I fail at it, I'm never going to be able to support a family and that I'm going to end up having a miserable life so I have to do whatever it takes to get in to med school. I know the man is questionable, but for the next two days I was flipping out so bad that I made every simple mistake imaginable on practice passages. Then, I ran into the guy again the other day and he looked at me and said something nonsensical with the inflection of a question. I said "huh?". Then he proceeded to stare at me for 2 minutes straight as I awkwardly stared back, puzzled. After the two minutes, he just nodded and said "Pretty cool..." and walked away.

Moral of the story #1: Don't talk to unkempt people at the city library about your personal life.

Moral of the story #2: Confidence is half the battle.

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Did this story take place during the time of your post about FL issues?

one time i was studying and doing practice problems. I did one passage and got all the questions right for biology and then I did a second passage and got them all wrong overall 50%...dropped my head on my desk and just sat there for like 30 mins trying to clear my head loll depressing times.

one time i was studying and doing practice problems. I did one passage and got all the questions right for biology and then I did a second passage and got them all wrong overall 50%...dropped my head on my desk and just sat there for like 30 mins trying to clear my head loll depressing times.

Just finished a passage in verbal about prostitution. I feel that verbal gives me a nice break from the constant bombardment of scientific concepts and theories from dead old guys. Anyone share this opinion?

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ah.. so this is where you guys are all posting all the goodies....

yeah, i totally agree. i was so wrapped up in TBR phy and stoichio lsat two days when I did verbal today, it was really FUN (yeah, really) and I actually did really well.

unlike you sprinters, i am little behind the curve...
today:finished first pass at TPR Bio, and Chem in last 2 months..mostly was for content learning..
currently, 1/4th way through Physics, and O-chem (hate it w/ passion) books..
thought was doing good until i made the mistake of looking through the MCAT Q&As this morning.. felt like a loser
chugging along still...

unlike you sprinters, i am little behind the curve...
today:finished first pass at TPR Bio, and Chem in last 2 months..mostly was for content learning..
currently, 1/4th way through Physics, and O-chem (hate it w/ passion) books..
thought was doing good until i made the mistake of looking through the MCAT Q&As this morning.. felt like a loser
chugging along still...

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I was on a streak of 13-15s in TBR and verbal for the past 3-4 days. However, after studying one of my weaker subjects for 6 hours, struggled a bit with the passages. Frustrating to say the least...Time to get coffee and hop into the library.

I've been trying to make a weekly schedule and stick to it but I had a bad day at work so I didn't feel like doing anything. I just read a chapter for understanding so I got *something* done.

Today's plan is to take notes on 1 bio and 1 chem chapter from EK that I've read over the last few days. Going to be studying from ~5:30-11. If I do well, I'm going to try to read a chapter of EK physics.

I'm still reading the EK stuff even though I've bought NOVA's physics book. I'll start using that once I'm done with EK.

I decided to go back to chemistry although at some point during the night I will do the physics passages in the Princeton Workbook. I hope to get through all 17 passages for Chemistry Class 1 and the Passages for Physics Classes 1-3. Complete the EK 1001 Problems from Lecture 4, and do the 30 min Exam.

I am gearing up for the may 26th MCAT, and getting owned! I am averaging 8/9/10 on the TBR sections - phase I and II. I do good on three out of 4 passages, then get killed on one with 1-3 right.

It is really frustrating - I want to do good, and am learning from my mistakes. But then, new ones come up. My plan is to finish content review and move into EK questions and do as many as possible, fixing any problems. I am going to make a dedicated schedule today to follow through on....=(

MCAT is killing me...my ideal score is a 37 - 12 PS, 13 VS, 12 BS

On my kaplan diagnoistic I got a 28 with 13 on verbal, so that is my strongest area.

I am gearing up for the may 26th MCAT, and getting owned! I am averaging 8/9/10 on the TBR sections - phase I and II. I do good on three out of 4 passages, then get killed on one with 1-3 right.

It is really frustrating - I want to do good, and am learning from my mistakes. But then, new ones come up. My plan is to finish content review and move into EK questions and do as many as possible, fixing any problems. I am going to make a dedicated schedule today to follow through on....=(

MCAT is killing me...my ideal score is a 37 - 12 PS, 13 VS, 12 BS

On my kaplan diagnoistic I got a 28 with 13 on verbal, so that is my strongest area.

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Well, I guess you're in luck if verbal is your strongest on the AAMC's as well because that's the hardest section to budge up.

Also, realistically luck comes into play for any score over a 35 or so.
That said, you have 2.5 months to hammer down. So that's good

The owner told me that they don't necessarily increase in difficulty, but can be considered to be harder because Phase III incorporates concepts from other sections, which is closer to the style of the actual MCAT.

Of the questions I got wrong:
- One I changed away from the right answer.*
-One of the other ones, I narrowed down to 2 and picked the wrong one. Now I see why it was wrong, but I don't like it because I think the passage is contrary to this. I do now see it as the 'best' answer.*
-One of the answers was actually stupid.* (I misread a word...)
-2 were wrong from the same passage because I missed some info while rereading the passage.*
-2 I had trouble with

So it looks like, of everything I got wrong, about 5 are easily fixed by paying a little more attention. Lets see how I do on one of these next week!

I've taken 2 AAMC exams so far and got a 10 on both the VR's, so I'm hoping to see progress from here on out. A 10 is good on VR, no doubt, but if I can reliably get myself into the 11 or 12 zone, then that's a) a good buffer for a passage from hell b) good compensation for the rest of the exam.

I just finished watching this documentary about the "M-Theory" - the theory of everything, including the origin of the Big Bang. Some really really interesting stuff. BBC presents in a way that's extremely fun to watch, check it out if you have time: [YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4Hn7l7jDY8[/YOUTUBE]

Of the questions I got wrong:
- One I changed away from the right answer.*
-One of the other ones, I narrowed down to 2 and picked the wrong one. Now I see why it was wrong, but I don't like it because I think the passage is contrary to this. I do now see it as the 'best' answer.*
-One of the answers was actually stupid.* (I misread a word...)
-2 were wrong from the same passage because I missed some info while rereading the passage.*
-2 I had trouble with

So it looks like, of everything I got wrong, about 5 are easily fixed by paying a little more attention. Lets see how I do on one of these next week!

I've taken 2 AAMC exams so far and got a 10 on both the VR's, so I'm hoping to see progress from here on out. A 10 is good on VR, no doubt, but if I can reliably get myself into the 11 or 12 zone, then that's a) a good buffer for a passage from hell b) good compensation for the rest of the exam.

Hope everyone else had a good study day as well!

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10 on VR for the AAMC exams is awesome! you can only go up from here. Started on chemistry today... today's agenda is EK Chem Chapters 1 & 2 + EK 1001 questions. goodluck with studying everyone...

I found a few more verbal practice exams in a kaplan book a friend gave me from her class. She didn't do 4 of the verbal exams so I'm going to do those at some point. I know kap's aren't as good as EK's, but practice is practice.

I might even do the GS ones.

Can't decide if I want to do an AAMC or a GS exam this weekend. I had planned on an AAMC, but now I'm wondering whether I should save most of those for the last month or so.

I guess I have 10 GS exams that I might as well start using...

ANDDD!!!

I went to cvs and bought rubber bands and index cards yesterday! Planning on making some hormone and reproduction flash cards so I can drill down!

*Adjusted* to a 10 or so after realizing my stupid mistakes. So I guess there's still some hope. I need to start doing these with razor like focus!

I suck at PS...

Really hoping NOVA gives me an edge for the Physics stuff. The EK just doesn't have enough material and the passages come as huge surprises. That and having the 1001 books better help with drilldown.

Starting to wish that I'd started off with the TBR books. Sigh...

I'm under the impression that PS will be my problem section. I'm just hoping to solidify chances of getting at least a 10. 2 months and change left to make it happen.

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You'll get a 10, no problem. EK is really tricky to be honest. I haven't done Chapter 4 30-min exam, but the 1001 questions are tough as heck. I still don't have an understanding on that graph in the book involving momentum and KE.

You'll get a 10, no problem. EK is really tricky to be honest. I haven't done Chapter 4 30-min exam, but the 1001 questions are tough as heck. I still don't have an understanding on that graph in the book involving momentum and KE.

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Yeah, that graph makes no sense to me either. I think they're trying to summarize something but did so in a really terrible way.

In any event, I was planning on taking a GS exam tomorrow, but I'm going to pass and do a bunch of content review instead. I'm still doing the EK passages along the way so it's not like I'm not doing any passages, but right now I feel like I'm better off finishing the content review by the end of the month so I have 1.5 months for the aamc's and GS and 1001 books. I think I'm going to take a half day from work soon so I can study more.

I didn't get much done on friday/today, but I'll make up for it tomorrow. I did like 3 EK chapters this week already so It's all good

I didn't get much done on friday/today, but I'll make up for it tomorrow. I did like 3 EK chapters this week already so It's all good

MP, when are you taking the test?

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May 21st/22nd [either/or I forgot which day]

Not that excited that's for sure, I still have yet to take a FL. I took one two years ago and I got a 23, so I'm sure I have a ways to go. I'm going to take a FL probably Tuesday/Wednesday. I'll probably accomplish 3x as much at home during spring break than I usually do. No work, no volunteering, no socializing.

Not that excited that's for sure, I still have yet to take a FL. I took one two years ago and I got a 23, so I'm sure I have a ways to go. I'm going to take a FL probably Tuesday/Wednesday. I'll probably accomplish 3x as much at home during spring break than I usually do. No work, no volunteering, no socializing.

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Ah, I'm the same test date. I've already taken 2 AAMC FL's though. I didn't have any time issues, so that was good. Got a 26 (10vr/ 8ps&bs) on 3 and a 29 (10vr, 10bs, 9ps) on 4. I have a bunch of gold standard exams I'm going to take over the next couple of weeks and then revisit the AAMC exams in april or so when I'm actually done studying. Hoping to see a couple of points jump from the 29 since I'll have actually covered all the material haha.

Make sure you have your workspace set up well. I tend to study really well if I'm not home...

I spend days sitting at home and get done not even half of what I would do if I had gone to either a coffee shop or to a local library...

thought I'd share my study method: Spread out a chapter over two days (one day if chapter is short enough), read half of the chapter first day, finish chapter+3-4 passages the next day. I have a sheet I write notes on from the chapter and concepts from each passage. Goal is to have a one "sheet" for each chapter from the BR book combining important equations and concepts from passage questions and chapter, seems to helping a lot for my learning style. Started going "hard" this week for may 26 test date, still only hitting around 4/7-5/7 on passages making careless mistakes...hoping to up that percentage soon.

taking a full load of classes+EC's+ other stuff so study schedule is " not normal" compared to some of you crazy 8hr+/day people

literally re-starting my content review because I basically wasted a month of retaining nothing and going through the motions. MCAT test date is May 26.Going to throughly run through BR phys and gen chem, do a 1.5 wk "crash course" in Ochem, sparingly squeeze VR passages every week and Bio I'll probably just do passages with minimal content review (I'm a Bio Major).

Hm, so May 21 date.
I've read half way through physics in PR, plan on finishing hopefully next week. The all of spring break I want to devote to bio. Ochem and gen chem aren't too bad, so I'm sparingly inserting them in. Started the EK 1001 series yesterday. Hoping to start FLs first or second week of April up until test day. Next quarter I have volunteer work and 12 units (versus 18 now) and research, so I can devote time to do FLs (maybe two or three a week? with the PR science workbook)
I'm averaging a high 7 low 8 in VR right now, BS and PS not too good because I do well on the concepts I know, bomb the stuff I haven't reviewed yet. Guess that's a good sign because I hope to see a jump in my score once I'm done with most of the content.

BTW, quantum numbers and decay can suck it!

I have a question for everyone, how are you guys handling ochem reactions?
like do you know he reagents?
mechanism?
or just how the mechanism proceeds generally?
or just an overall picture like secondary alcohol and (acid?) make a ketone? (i think) please no flaming

Hoping, praying, willing to sell my liver (and from the looks of it, I think some of you might need it later ) for a 33+. Right now I'm at low 20s but yeah, we'll see in two months